The Howler
by Ink Runs Through My Veins
Summary: Rose knew her father really didn't like Scorpious, but did he really have to send her a Howler and shout to the entire Great Hall that she liked him? And right for him to hear too! She's only a teenager! She shouldn't have to deal with this!


I don't own the characters. I attach strings to them and shout, "Dance marionettes! Dance for my pleasure!"

* * *

It was raining that morning. That should have been a sign that day was going to be horrible.

Rose Weasley was never a fan of the rain. She hated that Quidditch practice was always put off because of rain. Rain wouldn't let her go out into the sunlight and enjoy a good book either.

Anyways, it was raining. Rose sighed as she sat down in her usual seat next to her cousin Roxanne and her brother. Roxy noticed her mood. "What's up Rose? You aren't usually such a downer."

She sighed and put her head on the Gryffindor table. "It's raining and I've got a Divination test in three hours. I'm starting to wish I took Mum's advice and not signed up for the stupid class. Absolutely no offense to her, but Professor Trelawney is a crack! A fake! There is no way she possess an ounce of Seer blood in her!"

Her other cousin, Lily, shrugged where she was sitting opposite of Rose. "Crack or not, she does have the ability to fail you."

Rose banged her head on the table. "I know. Trust me, I know."

"Hey Rose!" Rose lifted her head to see her best friend, the one and only Scorpius Malfoy, wave at her from the Ravenclaw table.

She smiled and waved back. Lily noticed the stupid smile on her cousin's face and grinned. "Well well well. Does our little Rosie finally have a crush on someone? I never thought I'd see the day."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Don't call me Rosie Lils. And I don't have a bloody crush on Scorpius Malfoy."

Lily's grin stretched from cat-like to probably-in-need-of-therapy. "Yes you do."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Say hypocritically I do." "Oh you so do!" "What is that going to change? He's a–"

"Malfoy," Lily rolled her eyes, having heard the speech approximately a million and three times. "and you're a Weasley. Bloody hell Rose! You've given me that excuse a hundred times! You two have been best friends since you came to Hogwarts. Names and blood don't matter anymore. Just the other day, a Slytherin boy said he liked a Gryffindor girl! If you want to dirty the sheets, strip and bang him!"

Her cousin always did have a crude sense of humor. "You know why I don't date him Lily. Hell, I have to pay James once a month to keep the fact that I'm friends with Scorp a secret. I begged the rest of the Weasley slash Potter family and they're only keeping it a secret because if Dad finds out, he'll make good on his promise to disown me. He'll probably even pull me out of Hogwarts."

Lily's eyes widened. "He wouldn't."

"You know my dad. He so would."

"But thats so st-" Suddenly, owls filled the Great Hall. People from all four tables were either groaning or exclaiming with happiness. Just as all the owls left, a bright red letter floated down onto Rose's plate. Everyone in the Great Hall paused when they saw the letter.

Roxy gulped. "You think its a Howler?"

Rose nodded, swallowed loudly and slowly opened it. As soon as it was open, it started to scream.

"ROSE GENEVIVE WEASLY!" Rose's whimper was not unlike a kicked dog's. She sunk low in her seat as her father's voice boomed across the Great Hall. "HOW BLOODY DARE YOU EVEN ASSOCIATE WITH SCOPRIOUS MALFOY, MUCH LESS HAVE A CRUSH ON HIM!" Tomatoes officially had nothing on Rose's cheeks as she sunk lower and lower into her seat until she nearly disappeared under the table. "YOU WILL BLODDY WELL RELINQUISH ANY RELATIONSHIP YOU HAVE WITH HIM IF YOU DON'T WANT ME TO DISOWN YOU! HELL, IF YOU STILL WANT TO HAVE A PLACE TO COME HOME TO, YOU BETTER BLOODY MAKE SURE YOU DON'T EVEN LOOK AT SCORPIOUS BLOODY MALFOY FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE! DO I MAKE MYSELF PERFECTLY BLOODY CLEAR?" The Howler turned to an amused Hugo. "Oh, and Hugo? Good luck with Quidditch tryouts. And try and buck up the courage to go out with that girl you said you liked." Hugo paled. "Maria Qutonez was it?" He hit his head on the table. "Anyways, good luck!" With that, the red letter ripped itself to pieces and the Great Hall burst into laughter.

Rose was so embarrassed. No, not embarrassed.

_**Humiliated. **_Yes, that is a better word. How could her father do something like that? In front of her teachers and classmates! Hell, in front of Scorpius! When she got her hands on whoever dared to blab to her father...

"Rose." Roxy shook her shoulder. "Rose, your eyes."

Rose angrily wiped away at her face, doing nothing to prevent the thick tears that rolled down her face at the laughter of everyone in the Great Hall. "Its nothing." She croaked. "I think I'm going to skip classes today."

"Ro-" But before anyone could protest, Rose had already fled out of the Great Hall.

* * *

"It has to be James." Rose thought furiously as she buried her head into her pillow, her tears gushing down her face and showing no signs of stopping. "But I paid him a month in advance! If he didn't keep his word I swear I'm gonna–"

"Rose?" She looked up to see, of all people, her mum step into her room.

"Mum?" Rose wiped her eyes. "What are you doing here?"

Hermione frowned and sat down next to her daughter. "I got a letter from McGonagall about your father's Howler. Honey, I swear if I had known Ron was going to do that I would have stopped him." She kissed Rose's forehead. "I don't care who you date so long as he makes you happy. And if your father loves you like he does, then he'll get over the fact that you want to date Scorpius."

"But Daddy–"

"Will understand. Ron may be pig-headed and stubborn, but once it gets in his face and bugs him until his ears bleed, he will have to listen to reason. If you want to go out with this boy, then I say go for it." She suddenly smiled. "Besides, there's a young man downstairs who has been waiting for you for awhile now."

"Any of the Weasley clan?"

Hermione's grin stretched wider. "Nope. Probably the opposite."

Rose furrowed her brow. Opposite? What did her mum mean by...oh. _**Oh**_. "He's waiting down there? For me?"

Hermione smiled at the eagerness in her daughter's eyes. "Go get him Rose. I'll scold Ron and tell him its not up to him to decide who you like."

Rose wrapped her arms around her mother and thanked her before rushing out of her room. As she stepped down the last few steps, she saw Scorpius sitting nervously by the fireplace and smiled. "Scorp?"

He jumped up from his seat and rushed over to hug her. "Merlin Rose! I was so worried." He pushed her back and gently grabbed her face, examining the redness in her eyes. "Were you crying? Are you okay? I swear, when I find out who blabbed about us I swear I'm going to stick their wand so far up the–"

Before he could complete his threat, Rose started tearing up. The are-you-nuts-? look on his face made her laugh until she was laughing with large tears rolling down her cheeks. "I'm not crazy." She assured him, wiping her eyes. "I'm just really...happy."

"Why is that? Do I need to get Poppy in here?"

She laughter a little more. "No, I swear I'm not crazy. I'm just really relieved that you didn't say you didn't want to be my friend anymore. I would have ignored my dad for the rest of my life if that happened."

Scorpius grinned. "Well I'm glad for that. I don't want Mr. Weasley hating me for reasons other than the fact I'm a Malfoy."

She frowned. "Mum said she was going to talk to him. I don't know what to do about him this time. He's never acted like this before."

"He's just looking out for your well-being in his own way."

"Yeah, in a stupid, male-ego way." Rose shook her head. "But I don't want to think about that right now."

'Then what do you want to think about?"

"Certainly not how I'm going to skip classes for the entire day. I couldn't bare to look at any of our classmates faces right now, especially knowing that they're going to laugh about this for awhile."

He smiled. "Why don't we go to the Room of Requirement then? You said you've got Albus's Invisibility Cloak right? And I've already asked him to take notes for us. Lily, Roxy and Louis are looking for whoever blabbed about us, so why don't we relax?"

She blinked. Relaxed. It wasn't a word she used often, especially since Rose was Hermione Granger-Weasley's daughter. It was once of her traits: to be tense and nervous as much as possible. Hearing the word and actually applying it to real life? Not something she did often.

But heck, when was the last time she had any fun besides just reading books?

Rose shrugged. "Alright then, lead the way."

With a sly smile, Scorpius clasped her hand in his and led her out the entryway, his mouth at her ear, whispering words that made her blush her ancestors proud.

"_I like you too."_

* * *

Hermione smiled fondly as she saw her daughter flushed and happy face, her crush's hand in hers, and said to herself. "Ronald Billius Weasley is an absolute _**dead man**_ when he comes home tonight."


End file.
